1. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to goggle type safety glasses and more particularly to such glasses that are of a compound adjustable nature and have ear-bow structures carrying earplugs for adjustable positioning.
2. Background and Description of Prior Art
Worker safety devices have become increasingly important in the modern work place to such an extent that in various work environments the use of some safety devices is required by statute and ancillary rules or regulations relating thereto. Safety glasses and earplugs have long been known to protect worker sight and hearing and through their course of development each device has become increasingly sophisticated. Because of the close physical association of the visual and auditory sense organs, various safety devices combining both safety glasses and earplugs in a unitary, or at least interconnected, structure have heretofore become known. Notwithstanding the sophistication of the development of these protective devices, both individually and in combination, problems still remain with them and their use. The instant invention seeks to resolve various of these remaining problems by providing a compound structure combining both safety glasses and earplugs in a new unitary assemblage.
The combined glasses and earplug assemblages that have heretofore become known have shown the benefits and advantages of having both safety devices in a single interconnected structure, but in general prior assemblages have associated these two protective devices in a fashion that has not taken advantage of the synergistic relationship each assemblage may have in a rigid articular structure that aids positional maintenance of the combined assemblage on the head of a user. Various prior combined assemblages have concentrated on the positional maintenance of one or the other of the individual protective devices, but have not accomplished this result in a fashion that is convenient and comfortable for the user nor of maximum utility for the simultaneous use of both protective elements.
One group of combined eye and ear protective devices have associated the ear protectors with eye glasses type eye protectors by interconnecting the elements with a flexible cord. With this type of interconnection neither protector aids the proper positional maintenance of the other and in some instances the interconnection may be disruptive of the positional maintenance of one or both protective devices. Other assemblages that have provided interconnection of the two safety devices by rigid articulating elements have not allowed all necessary or convenient motions of either or both safety devices to allow proper positioning and comfortable use. Prior assemblages also have not provided a reasonable amount of potential adjustment to accommodate various anatomically different features of different users to allow comfortable positioning and use of the same sized and configured protective device by reasonably large classes of users sufficient in size to make the assemblage economically viable.
In contradistinction to the known assemblages of ear and eye protectors that are articularly interconnected, the instant device provides not only articular joinder of the protectors, but also provides further articular joinder of the elements of the protectors. The instant assemblage provides a goggle type eye shield carried by a forehead beam that articularly interconnects two rearwardly extending temple beams at each lateral end for pivotal motion in a substantially horizontal plane. The rearward end portion of each temple beam provides one element of a ball and socket joint that articularly interconnects the other element of the ball and socket joint carried by an ear beam for universal motion of the elements in two mutually perpendicular planes. The ear beam in turn in its rearward end portion articularly interconnects an earplug structure, extending laterally inwardly toward the user""s ears, by means of a ball and socket joint which allows earplug structure motion in two mutually perpendicular planes. Single ball and socket joints allowing two dimensional motion of ear plugs relative to supporting glasses or glasses-like supports have heretofore been known, but it does not appear that two such joints between the protective eye glasses or glasses-like ear plug supports have been known.
The instant assemblage allows necessary and desired motions for comfortable habitually familiar use of both the compound eye protector and ear protector by persons having a substantial range of face and cranial structures of differing dimensions and configurations while yet allowing use of known modern sophisticated configurations and structures for such protection devices to provide a protection device assemblage that is simple of manufacture from modern polymeric materials by known processes while yet maintaining cost within a range of economically viable.
My invention lies not in any one of these features individually, but rather in the synergistic combination of all of its structures that give rise to the functions necessarily flowing therefrom.
My protection device provides goggle type safety glasses having a forehead beam supporting a depending goggle-like eye shield and rearwardly extending temple beam connectors at each lateral end. Each temple beam connector pivotally interconnects a rearwardly extending temple beam for motion in a substantially horizontal plane. The rearward portion of each temple beam provides one element of a ball and socket joint to support a mating element of a rearwardly extending ear beam for motion in two mutually perpendicular planes. Each ear beam in its rearward end portion provides one element of a ball and socket joint to support the mating element of the joint carried by an earplug structure extending laterally inwardly toward a user""s head for pivotal motion in two mutually perpendicular planes. Each earplug structure provides an earplug that may be positioned for use in a user""s auditory canal and for storage in a cavity defined in the ear beam. The protection device is formed of elements that are resiliently deformable, but sufficiently rigid to be configurationally sustaining, such as of polymeric material.
In creating such a device it is:
A principal object to provide a single protection device that embodies both eye glasses and earplugs.
A further object is to provide such a protection device that is of a compound articulating nature for adjustable positioning of the protector elements relative to each other to allow substantially the same adjustability of the protector elements of the device as either known eye protectors or ear protectors would have individually.
A further object is to provide such a protection device that has a goggle-type eye protector carrying earplug structures on ear beams at each end of temple beams with two ball and socket joints between the forehead beam of the eye protector and each earplug structure.
A further object is to provide such a protection device that carries earplugs at the end portion of each ear beam so that the earplugs may be moved for use in a wearer""s ears and for storage in a cavity defined in each ear beam.
A still further object is to provide such a protection device that is somewhat resiliently deformable with a repentant memory but yet sufficiently rigid so as to be configurationally sustaining to allow simple and economic formation from polymeric materials by known manufacturing processes.
A still further object is to provide such a protective device that is of new and novel design, of rugged and durable nature, of simple and economic manufacture and one otherwise well suited to the use and purposes in which it is intended.
Other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following specification and accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. In carrying out the objects of my invention, however, it is to be understood that its essential features are susceptible of change in design and structural arrangement with only one preferred and practical embodiment of its best known mode being illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specified as is required.